HomeLand

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A fresh look at the online, GameCube exclusive. Plus, new footage and screens.

By Juan Castro

Chunsoft's online-ready RPG, HomeLand, is quite the oddity. Resembling Nintendo's Animal Crossing in tone, HomeLand promises to take players into a brightly colored fantasy world filled with puzzles and combat. Although Chunsoft announced the game in December 2003, HomeLand has gone through dramatic changes, going from standalone RPG to MMORPG. The news broke to rabid fanfare among GameCube loyalists. Understandable, seeing as the Cube suffers from a new complete lack of online titles. Where the PS2 and Xbox have somewhat of a large online library, Cube enthusiasts have to do with Sega's Phantasy Star Online series.

Recently, Chunsoft revealed Homeland would support online play for up to 30 simultaneous players. The company also revealed that HomeLand would ship on two disks, one disk for single player and the other for online play. The single player portion will contain a conventional quest, with you controlling a pointy-haired protagonist as he travels through a whimsical realm. You'll explore an assortment of towns, with each boasting unique denizens, challenges and mini-quests. Completing quests in a town will grant you access to more towns and areas. The story takes you through each bizarre (yet oddly charming locale) where you'll need to meet and befriend local townsfolk to progress.

Like any game of this type, HomeLand will feature combat, complete with special attacks and magical spells. One of the most interesting aspects of HomeLand is the "hand holding" system, where you link with other characters in the game by holding hands. Forming a chain with fellow HomeLand denizens boosts your statistics and abilities, depending on the abilities of the characters you're with, of course. You can join strong characters to fight vicious monsters, or join hands to shield a struggling character from attack. It's a pretty unique approach, and well suited for online play, where you'll most likely need to find able-bodied characters to join your team. Chunsoft has yet to release specific information on how these character chains will pan out, or how the company plans to balance a character's abilities, but you can expect something unique.

To be honest, Chunsoft has yet to release very much of anything regarding specifics. Looking through the main website, however, one can clearly see that HomeLand offers something unique. For starters, the game looks unlike any other online game on the market. The color scheme looks altogether bright and cheery, with pastel colors used throughout. Character design benefits from a truly unique twist, as can be seen on any of the screen shots released so far. The game may look "kiddie" by most standards, but it's more just peculiar, looking like a cross between Nintendo's Animal Crossing and Namco's Katamari Damaci.

We'll know much more the closer HomeLand gets to release. Until then, head into the media page for brand new footage of the game in action.